National TOAD Day

 National TOAD Day

As if the absurdity of American politics couldn’t get much further from the ideals set forth in our Constitution, we have allowed our standards to devolve into the chaos we see in the House of Representatives today. While we should be holding our elected leaders to higher standards than other job holders in our realm, we seem to be heading in the other direction. How would it be that a doctor after reading lab results that showed a potential problem, lied to a patient because they thought that is what they wanted to hear? What if an engineer under-designed a building foundation to save a contractor a few dollars?

We don’t tolerate such lies from other professionals, why do we tolerate them in politicians. First, we let them stretch the truth, then they fabricate the truth, then they begin creating “alternative facts” that they anoint by declaration to be reality. We gave them an inch and they went “to infinity and beyond” like Buzz Lightyear. In the balancing act of unregulated capitalism and business operating in a fair competitive marketplace, we seem to prioritize the bottom line over fairness. We have allowed our political system to be offered to the highest bidder.

The main goal of any politician today is to raise money. Unlike when they had to raise money “the old-fashioned way” from constituents, they now have the deep pockets of anyone in the world with an agenda. Congress has a For Sale sign posted where businesses can buy a position at the trough of government contracts or can get legislation passed that gives them an unfair advantage in their business. Pandora’s Box has been opened and shutting the spigot of free cash is a non-starter. Given the fact that the hand on that valve is the beneficiary of the wealth, what politician would want to want legislation that would make them poorer? It will take some catastrophic event or other external force to make any such change.

The George Santos debacle just goes to show how corrupt the motivation must be to put up with the ridicule of this fraud just because you need even his one vote to function. For part of the day of January 5th, he apparently hid out in a cloakroom in the House chamber. And here we thought he was out of the closet. Actually, being gay is the only thing on his resume that people haven’t found to be a falsehood. Perhaps that is because nobody cares.

Perhaps the House of Representatives could solve its deadlock by having George Santos use his ties with the Jewish community to get them to turn on their Space Laser of Marjorie Taylor Greene fame, to zap Kevin McCarthy to eliminate the problem. Santos would go from zero to hero and could be the new Speaker.

On this, anniversary of the attempted Trump Overthrow of American Democracy (TOAD), we can only rejoice in knowing that he lost another election and came in last. He received but one vote for the Speakership of the House. Of course, Trump will demand a recount, declare the election a fraud, and will want to “find another 217 votes.”